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POCANTICO HILLS, N.Y. Most students in the Pocantico Hills Central School District will need to bring their own lunches to school because of staffing issues, the school district announced this week.
Two-thirds of the staff who provided lunches has retired, a letter to parents said. School officials said they put out two separate bids to find a management company to provide lunches but received no responses.
The last lunch at the school will be served Oct. 19 and, Superintendent Valencia Douglas said.
This is an extremely difficult but necessary decision since circumstances have made the continuation of the program at this time virtually impossible, Douglas said in a letter to parents.
Costs in the lunch program had consistently been more than the budgeted $90,000, making it difficult to balance the program with cost-saving measures, he said.
The district provided a sample menu for lunches through Oct. 19 that included assorted sandwiches, bread, vegetables, fruit and milk. The price of a lunch continues to be $2, Douglas said. Milk will be available separately for 35 cents.
After Oct. 19, students not eligible for free and reduced price lunches will be required to bring their own lunches, Douglas said. Students will be able to buy milk and snacks.
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